The Committee on International Trade adopted the recommendation by Marietje SCHAAKE (ALDE, NL) on the draft Council decision on the conclusion of the agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the European Union and the Kingdom of Morocco on the amendment of Protocols 1 and 4 to the Euro-Mediterranean Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Kingdom of Morocco, of the other part.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament give its consent to the conclusion of the agreement.
As a reminder, the aim of the proposal is to avoid disrupting trade with Western Sahara while maintaining access to the EU market at a stable level, since no new preferences are being granted. In particular, it aims to foster the economic development of Western Sahara by treating its exports to the EU the same as exports of products of Moroccan origin. These measures will prevent Western Sahara suffering a competitive disadvantage and missing out on investment opportunities compared with neighbouring countries, which benefit from tariff preferences on different grounds (association agreements or the Generalised System of Preferences).